Richard O'Brien

EARLY CAREER

Born in Cheltenham on March 25, 1942 as Richard Timothy Smith, Richard's family moved to Tauranga, New Zealand, in 1951 when his father, an accountant, decided to become a sheep farmer. Watching horror and science-fiction double features in nearby Hamilton, Smith added an interest in acting to his love of rock and roll. At the age of 22 he gave up his life on the farm and moved back to England. He tried singing and later on, having acquired excellent horse riding skills as a child on the farm, he became a movie stuntman on the film Carry on Cowboys and Casino Royal.

His first real break came in 1968, with a small part in Sean Kenny's production of Gulliver's Travels, at the Mermaid Theatre. He later joined the touring cast of Hair in 1969. This engagement brought him together with later Frank-n-Furter, Tim Curry, as well as his first wife Kimi Wong. He changed his name to O'Brien (his beloved maternal grandmother's name) one day while on the phone to British Actors Equity, to avoid confusion with another actor Richard Smith.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

He met director Jim Sharman in 1972, when Sharman cast him in the dual roles of Apostle and Leper for the London stage production (transferred from Sharman's native Australia) of Jesus Christ Superstar. O'Brien was due to take over the role of Herod, but only lasted one night, as his performance did not resonate with the audience. Rather than return to the chorus, he quit. Later O'Brien worked again with Sharman on a production of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand, where he was given the part of Willie the Space Freak. The play was performed at the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs, the same venue that would later house The Rocky Horror Show.

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

It was while working with Sharman on The Unseen Hand that O'Brien mentioned to him about a new rock'n'roll musical he'd been writing called Rock Horroar. The play went into rehearsals as They Came from Denton High, and at Sharman's suggestion, was retitled The Rocky Horror Show before opening in June 1973. The Rocky Horror Show ran at the Theatre Upstairs for it's initial run, and was moved to the King's Road Theatre, where it ran for 2 years. It has practically never been out of production since. Lou Adler saw the musical, and immediately snagged up the rights, looking to make a film. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was made in 1975 on a very small budget, and featured mostly reprised roles from the various incarnations of the musical productions, and two American newcomers, Susan Sarandon in the role of Janet, and Barry Bostwick as Brad. The film wasn't a commercial success at first but gradually, with late-night screenings of the film and the rise of 'audience participation' the film turned into the classic cult it is today.

At the height of the show's success, his marriage to actress Kimi Wong, whom he had met in Hair, broke up, and he was left in Los Angeles, playing Riff-Raff by night and looking after their baby by day. His second wife, Jane Moss, a costume designer, brought him two more children. Meanwhile, his career featuring productions like T. Zee (1976), Disaster (1978), staged at the Royal Court, and the film Shock Treatment (1981), a follow-up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, did not advance. Top People, his 1984 musical, closed after less than a week. Television was kinder to O'Brien it seems. He appeared in a long standing run as the host of the Crystal Maze for Channel 4.

On November 25, 2004, a life-size bronze statue of Richard O'Brien in his Riff Raff space suit was unveiled in Hamilton, New Zealand, where O'Brien grew up after moving from England. Commissioned jointly by a local theatre group and the Hamilton City Council, the statue stands on the site of the old Embassy Cinema, where O'Brien once watched science-fiction double features.